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Archaic Plastic Vases from Isthmia ARCHAIC PLASTIC VASES FROM ISTHMIA (PLATES 53-60) FEWERTHAN TWENTY completeand fragmentaryArchaic plastic vases were found in the excavations conductedby the University of Chicago at Isthmia between 1952 and 1967.1 They are all of recognizablyCorinthian fabric and represent only a tiny percentageof the mass of Corinthian pottery found in the excavationsin the Sanctuaryof Poseidon. Plastic vases in the forms of common animals, mythical creatures,and human figures were producedat Corinth beginning in the Protocorinthianperiod and continuing into the Middle Corinthian period of the 6th century B.C.They were exported far and wide and appear whereverCorinthian pottery is found. Their small mouths and the elegant shapes of the most carefully made examples have led to the assumption that they were exported as much for their contents as for themselves. As a class they are relatively rare; perhaps no more than four hundred or so are known at the present time. Figure vases are found in all sorts of contexts. The greater number show up in graves, especially when they have been importedfrom far away, but some are also found in domesticcontexts. A few, as at Isthmia, are found in sanctuaries,where they are assumedto be dedications,although the use of their contentsin cult practiceis a possibility.2 1 The traditionalterm "plasticvase", derived from the word 7rXao-Tr&'"formed or molded",is not a happy one, not only because it is perhaps inappropriatefor handmadeor wheelmadevases but also becauseit is liable to confusionwith the modernmaterial "plastic".I have attempted,apparently without much success,to popu- larize the term "figurevase" for these little vases. This term was in fact used as early as 1930 by Winifred Lamb in CVA, Cambridge1 [Great Britain 6]. The one thing all these little vases have in commonis that they are in the form of a "figure"of some kind or another. I must express my thanks to Elizabeth Gebhard, present Director of the University of Chicago Excava- tions at Isthmia, for her enthusiasmfor this study and for encouragingme to publish these vases in Hesperia. The initial researchwas partially fundedby a grant from the ResearchCouncil of the University of Missouri- Columbia, and the article was written while in Athens as Elizabeth Whitehead Visiting Professor for 1989-1990. New photographsof most of the objectswere made by I. Ioannidouamd L. Barzioti; Pls. 54:c-e and 55:a, d, e are by Frank Nesbit. Context informationwas providedby the Isthmia Excavations,and appre- ciation goes to Fritz Hemans for providing last-minute help. In the Catalogue, fabric is described with referenceto the Munsell Soil Color Chart (Baltimore 1975). "NB" in the Catalogue abbreviates"Excavation Notebook". Works frequentlycited are abbreviatedas follows: Amyx = D. A. Amyx, Corinthian Vase Painters of the ArchaicPeriod I-III, Berkeley 1988 Broneer = 0. Broneer,"Excavations at Isthmia, Fourth Campaign, 1957-1958," Hesperia 28,1959, pp. 298-343 Ducat = J. Ducat, "Les vases plastiques corinthiens,"BCH 87, 1963, pp. 431-458 PerachoraI = H. Payne et al., Perachora.The Sanctuariesof Hera Akraiaand Limenia I, Oxford 1940 PerachoraII = Perachora.The Sanctuariesof Hera Akraiaand Limenia II, T. J. Dunbabin, ed., Oxford 1962 Phillips = K. Phillips, Jr., "Notes from Berlin on a Bronze Owl," OpRom 17, 1989, pp. 97-122 2 Corinthianfigure vases have not yet been studied from the point of view of context or function, although these aspects will be consideredin a future publication by the undersigned.As at Isthmia, Corinthian figure vases are always a very small percentageof the finds from sanctuaries.The recent publication of the Greek pottery from the Demeter and Kore sanctuaryat Corinth revealedonly five completeCorinthian figure vases American School of Classical Studies at Athens is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Hesperia ® www.jstor.org 228 WILLIAM R. BIERS The plastic vases from Isthmia were found throughoutthe sanctuary,and many of them came from the lower levels of the Large Circular Pit, located at the southwest cornerof the excavationarea (1-3, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16).3 Since later materialcame from even the lowest levels of the pit, the context here can not be used to date the plastic vases and fragmentsfrom these levels. In fact, none of the vases came from closed 6th-centurydeposits, as is made clear by the context informationprovided in the Catalogue (pp. 235-238 below). Of the 18 figure vases and fragments,the greaternumber (13) are fragmentsof common Corinthian animal vases, particularlyhares and rams. Where heads or characteristicbody parts are preserved,there is no problem identifying what animal is represented (1-3, 9, hares;4-8, rams). A number of fragmentsmended into parts of bodies (10-13), but such is the nature of the mass-producedCorinthian plastic vases of this type that it is difficultto tell what animal is intended: different creatures could be created simply by adding different heads to standardizedbodies. These 13 fragmentsof the Corinthianperiod are presentedin the Cataloguebelow. Five additionalvases and pieces of vases (14-18) are of special interest as representingnew types or versionsof types within the Corinthianrepertoire. Their basic informationis given in the Catalogue (pp. 237-238), but detaileddescription and discussion appear in the text below. A single fragmentof a squatting male figure was found in the Large Circular Pit (14; P1. 56).4 The corpulent figure is portrayed seated with his legs drawn up. His head is unfortunatelybroken away, and there is a hole broken in his chest below the right hand. The hand is modeled with the fingers indicated and appears to grasp something, now broken away, that extends down from his head, probably a beard. The hand is clearly holding something that extends slightly below the fist and is painted black. Reddish glaze can be seen at the break above the hand on the right side (P1. 56:c). The left arm terminates in a finished, oval end; there is no hand indicated,nor was it broken away. The corpulent body shows many traces of hand modeling, and there is no evidence that the figure was wheelmade, although being relatively intact, it is difficult to be certain. The plastically rendered arms and legs were apparently outlined in glaze paint, some of which still sur- vives. Only a small section of the hair is preservedon the figure's right side, still covered and two fragments:E. G. Pemberton, Corinth, XVIII, i, The Sanctuaryof Demeter and Kore: The Greek Pottery, Princeton 1989, p. 178. 3 For the Large Circular Pit (Trench H) see Broneer, pp. 301-303; idem, "Excavations at Isthmia 1951-1961," Hesperia 31, 1962, pp. 1-2; idem, Isthmia, II, Topographyand Architecture,Princeton 1973, pp. 22-24, 135-136. As Broneer describesthe pit, it was filled when the temenos was landscapedafter the constructionof the Classical Temple of Poseidon. Study of the contentsis not complete,but the admixture of later material makes it appear that the pit was not filled before the beginning of the 4th century B.C. Most of the contentsare votivesfrom within and aroundthe ArchaicTemple of Poseidonthat burnedca. 470 B.C., and many bear marks of burning. Since there is only one fire known at this time in the sanctuary, the burning marks indicate that the objectsmust have been originally close to, if not within, the temple. The information given for the Lots in the Catalogue indicatesthe date of the latest pottery found with each figure vase or frag- ment. For a trench plan of the excavations of 1952-1967, see M. Sturgeon, Isthmia, IV, Sculpture I: 1952-1967, Princeton 1987, plan III = E. Gebhard and F. Hemans, "Universityof Chicago Excavationsat Isthmia, 1989: I," Hesperia 61, 1992, p. 11, fig. 3. 4 Broneer, no. 10, pp. 335-336, pl. 71:a, b. The vase is illustrated in A. Pickard-Cambridge,Dithyramb Tragedyand Comedy,2nd ed., T. B. L. Webster, rev., Oxford 1962, pl. X:b. The caption says "with drinking horn in hand."The figure is most probablygrasping his beard, as suggestedby Broneer. ARCHAIC PLASTIC VASES FROM ISTHMIA 229 with black glaze filled red in some places. This preservedsection indicates that the figure must have had solid wiglike hair that ended well above the shoulder.The head was appar- ently pierced transverselyat this point, for the lower portion of the horizontal hole is pre- served.There was also a vertical filling hole in the head. A third hole is piercedthrough the under surface (P1. 56:e). The figure is liberally decoratedin black glaze, shadingto brown. A dot field coversthe upper body and probably represents a hairy chest, for the nipples are indicated by dotted circles. The field extends upwards only to the arm on the right side and only slightly above the nipple on the left. Below, two male figures are painted in profile, facing the outline of an erect phallos, now broken away. The ithyphallic left-hand figure appears to touch the phallos with his left hand as does the right-hand figure, who may not be ithyphallic. He appears to hold a clublike objectin his left hand, probablya phallos or a dildo.5 Dot rosettesdecorate each knee of the figure, and four large circulardesigns are painted on his back, which is divided in two by an uneven, vertical stripe of black glaze (P1. 56:d). The two upper designs, as those on the knees, appear to be dot rosetteswith their dots fused together,a form that does not seem to be canonical,at least in the developmentof the dot ro- sette as a filling ornamentin Corinthianvase painting, as outlined by Amyx. Perhaps they should be called "fusedpinwheel rosettes".Their form suggests an early date, but an exact parallel is difficult to find.6The two lower designs are based on the wheel, the one on the right having six spokes.
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